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by Mr. Moose on April 2nd, 2008

Mr. Moose

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Since first edition of AD&D the pit fiend has been the pinnacle of Hellish fury and power as a common monster i.e. not Graz'zt, Orcus, Asmodeus... you get the point! How come in V3.5 the Balor in the demons section is much more B/A than a Pit Fiend?

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  • by Essence on May 16th, 2008

    Essence

    In short: because they more clearly defined the role of Law vs. Chaos in creature tactics in 3.5. Balor, being Chaotic, are expected to show up alone and/or not work with their cohorts very well. Pit Fiends on the other hand are supposed to have complete control over what their minions are doing as well as have a complex plan in place for contingencies.

    That makes the Pit Fiend much more menacing than it appears, and the Balor less so. Personally, I don't like it, but that's the logic as given by WotC.

    Comments

    • Alright, that does make sense! And you really can see the difference in the definitions if you read the "Book of Vile Darkness" or either one of the fiendish codex's! Since you seem to know your stuff, the book of exalted deeds is the good version of the book of vile darkness. Is there a good version of the fiendish codex's? One that goes more in depth with the stories behind the "celestial hebdomad" and the rulers of the other outer planes of good?

      Mr. Moose

      by Mr. Moose on May 16th, 2008

    • Unfortunately, no. The Codexes (Codeces?) were basically intended to give higher-level characters a bunch of uber-adventuring to do in the lower planes, where WotC's philosophy of "if it's ugly, you can kill it" is especially true. ;) There's no such lure for most characters to spend so much time in the upper planes, so there was no real market value to a "Celestial Codex". I do believe, however, that some of the 2nd edition Planescape materials do go into that kind of detail (easily thievable), and the Manual of the Planes has some very incredibly vague details on the matter.

      You may also be able to find something in the Dungeon or Dragon archives from Paizo.

      Good luck!

      Essence

      by Essence on May 18th, 2008

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